Average N.L. salary expected to rise 2.4 per cent in 2018: survey

Employers expect the average salary in Newfoundland and Labrador to rise by 2.4 per cent in 2018, Morneau Shepell says.

That’s slightly higher than the 2.3 per cent increase expected for salaries across all of Canada. This year, Morneau Shepell says the country’s salaries are increasing by 2.2 per cent.

The numbers come from the company’s annual Trends in Human Resources survey, released Wednesday.

“The expected 2.3 per cent increase compares favourably to the current rate of inflation, which is about 1.0 per cent,” reads a news release from Morneau Shepell.

Quebec is expected to have the highest average salary increases, at 2.6 per cent, and the lowest increase (1.8 per cent) is expected in Alberta.

Certain sectors are expected to have higher-than-average increases, including utilities (2.9 per cent), and manufacturing and wholesale trade (2.7 per cent). Some industries expected to have lower-than-average increases are public administration, health care and social assistance (1.7 per cent), and educational services (1.9 per cent).

The Morneau Shepell survey, which got input from 370 organizations with 895,000 employees, also asked about employers’ priorities for 2018. More than 90 per cent of HR leaders expressed concern about their employees’ readiness to retire; 65 per cent said a priority is improving employee engagement; and 47 per cent are making improving physical and mental health a priority.